Turbine systems are widely utilized in fields such as power generation. For example, a conventional gas turbine system includes a compressor, a combustor, and a turbine. During operation of the gas turbine system, various components in the system are subjected to high temperature flows, which can cause the components to fail. Since higher temperature flows generally result in increased performance, efficiency, and power output of the gas turbine system, the components that are subjected to high temperature flows must be cooled to allow the gas turbine system to operate at increased temperatures.
Various strategies are known in the art for cooling various gas turbine system components. For example, a cooling medium may be routed from the compressor and provided to various components. In the compressor and turbine sections of the system, the cooling medium may be utilized to cool various compressor and turbine components.
Buckets are one example of a hot gas path component that must be cooled. For example, various parts of the bucket, such as the airfoil, the platform, the shank, and the dovetail, are disposed in a hot gas path and exposed to relatively high temperatures and thus require cooling. Various cooling passages and cooling circuits may be defined in the various pans of the bucket, and cooling medium may be flowed through the various cooling passages and cooling circuits to cool the bucket.
One specific part of a bucket that requires cooling is the tip shroud. Tip shrouds are located on the tips of bucket airfoils and engage adjacent shroud blocks to provide a seal for the hot gas path. A typical tip shroud includes one or more rails that intersect with mating portions of the shroud blocks. Known designs of tip shrouds, however, do not include adequate cooling apparatus for cooling these rails. For example, typical tip shrouds do not provide cooling passages in the rails for cooling them.
Thus, an improved bucket assembly for a turbine system would be desired in the art. In particular, a bucket assembly that includes improved cooling apparatus for cooling a tip shroud would be advantageous.